Taking a Case to Trial: The Litigation Process
| Author | Scott A. Hatch/Lisa Zimmer Hatch |
| Profession | Founders of The Center for Legal Studies and developed their award-winning paralegal curriculum in 1980, offering it through 600 colleges nationwide |
| Pages | 79-99 |
CHAPTER 6 Taking a Case to Trial: The Litigation Process 79
Chapter6
Taking a Case to Trial:
The Litigation Process
Paralegals assist their supervising attorneys with cases from start to nish.
This chapter gives you the nuts and bolts of how to help your supervising
attorney bring your rm’s criminal and civil cases through the maze of
litigation.
Constructing the Criminal Case
Criminal law paralegals may work in the public sector for either the prosecution
or the public defender, or they may provide services for a private defense law rm
that defends those who can aord to pay for their own lawyers. No matter which
side of the fence you’re on, your career in criminal litigation will be extremely
busy. You have to concentrate on staying on top of the constant ow of cases and
making your supervising attorney look good. We focus on procedure in this
chapter, but you can nd out more about the nature of criminal law in Chapter5.
Charging the defendant
Paralegals who work in a federal, state, or local prosecuting attorney’s oce make
sure that their supervising attorneys le the proper criminal charges against
IN THIS CHAPTER
»
Following the ow of a criminal case
from indictment to nal appeal
»
Litigating the civil matter from the
demand letter to collection of a nal
judgment
80 PART 2 Important Legal Concepts Every Paralegal Should Know
criminal defendants. The attorney begins the process by reviewing police reports
of suspected criminal activity. He may even assist law enforcement in the process
of obtaining a search warrant.
Police ocers may arrest a suspect based on probable cause, which is a reasonable
belief— based on all the facts available to the ocer given her special training
and experience— that a crime has been committed. For charges like drunk driv-
ing, misdemeanor assault or theft, and malicious mischief charges, police ocers
often arrest individuals suspected of committing crimes and turn the case that
they have led in court over to the prosecutor. For felony cases, law enforcement
often investigates criminal activity and then refers the matter to the prosecutor
without rst making an arrest.
To le criminal charges, the prosecution must have more than probable cause. The
prosecution must also be reasonably satised that sucient admissible evidence
exists to justify a conviction by a reasonable fact nder, such as the judge or jury.
So, although law enforcement authorities may develop a case against an individ-
ual for prosecution, the prosecutor alone decides which criminal charges to le,
especially with major criminal matters such as felonies. The prosecuting attorney,
with the assistance of the paralegal, reviews the police reports, and decides upon
two things:
»
Probable cause exists to charge the defendant.
»
A reasonable likelihood exists that there’s enough evidence to convince a jury
that there’s enough evidence to convict the defendant.
As a paralegal, you’re in an excellent position to assist your supervising attorney
in determining the appropriate charges to le against a criminal defendant. You
need to know enough about criminal law to intelligently discuss evidence with
your supervising attorney, but your common-sense viewpoint may provide wis-
dom that the lawyer may otherwise overlook when deciding on the ultimate ling
decision. You can oer a perspective that lets the lawyer know how a jury may
view the same evidence.
When prosecutors are reasonably satised that they can get a conviction in court,
they le a charging document against the defendant. The prosecutor charges the
defendant either by indictment or complaint.
Charging documents come in two varieties:
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Indictments, handed down by grand juries
»
Complaints (also known as information), charged by the prosecutor
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